Albertengo's traditional dough of flour, butter, eggs, yeast, and sugar really shines in this Dore Panettone. The delicious cake is perfect the way it is, without raisins or candied fruit. 1kg | $49.99

Panettone with raisins end candied fruits, in a fine metal tin. The Panettone Chiostro di Saronno is produced according to the traditional recipe and criteria, through a slow and natural leavening. 1kg | $34.99

Indulge in this classic Panettone with raisins and candied fruit pieces. Presented in a beautiful orange box! 900g | $31.99

Here are some serving suggestions for pesto:

Toss (or Top) VeggiesInstead of butter, use a dab of pesto to garnish your vegetables. Put pesto on a baked potato instead.

Mix It into DipsMix a little pesto in with sour cream, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, or even guacamole! You can also serve it over baked brie for a fancy appetiser.

Top Your BreakfastDrizzle pesto over your favourite breakfast eggs to add a touch of herbs and cheese.

Bake into BreadInstead of garlic bread, spread pesto onto crusty bread and toast, or stir pesto into bread dough for wonderfully fragrant dinner rolls. If you don't want to turn on the oven, just mix the pesto with some softened butter and slather on some rolls or fresh bread.

Spread on a Sandwich or FlatbreadMix pesto with mayonnaise or use as is on sandwich bread or flatbread. Make a pesto schmear by mixing it with cream cheese and serving with bagels.

Mix into Salad DressingStir this intense sauce into grain, rice, or chicken salads. Thinned with a little more oil or vinegar, you have a quick vinaigrette for summer salads. Whisk into buttermilk for an Italian version of ranch dressing.

Smear on BruschettaA smear of pesto topped with a slice of mozzarella or provolone cheese on a slice of baguette or on crostini is one of our favourite quick appetisers.

Sauce the MeatPesto goes amazingly well with grilled steak, pork chops, chicken, and even fish, so you don't have to worry about spicing or marinating your meat. You can also season meatloaf or meatballs with pesto.

HERITAGE TOMATO PLANTS FOR SALE!$10 each at the Newtown Shop + Deli

We will be selling our own tomato plants over the coming weeks. The tomato plants have been propagated from seeds brought back from our grandfather Luigi Ruocco in the 1960s from his native Isle of Capri in Italy.

These tomatoes are part of our family history and tradition as these tomatoes were grown by our papa’ Antonio Cuccurullo who had around 100 plants in his glasshouse and garden.

We have taken over the tradition of keeping the history of these plants and our ancestors. These heritage tomatoes are called Isle of Capri and are acid free and have a long shape as seen in the photos.

How to look after your plant:

The best way to look after your plant is keep it in a warm sunny place inside and water every 2 days, if you intend to keep the plant indoors you could re pot now into a larger pot and keep watering every 2 days.

If you are going to grow the plant outside it is best to keep it indoors as long as possible right up until around 15 November. If in the coming weeks you feel the plant is getting too big in the pot that you have purchased it in you should repot to a larger pot.

Here are some serving suggestions for gnocchi:

Gnocchi with butter, sage and shaved Parmesan 1. To make this dish, fry some fresh sage leaves in olive oil, then remove the leaves to drain on paper towels.

2. Add some butter to the sage-infused oil and swirl it around until it melts. Meanwhile, boil the gnocchi until they float (about 2 - 3 minutes) then remove them from the pot with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl.

3. Toss with the melted butter, transfer to serving plates, then top with the fried sage leaves and thinly shaved parmesan cheese.

Gnocchi with pestoBuy a ready made sauce or make your own!

Gnocchi with vegetablesSaute seasonal vegetables in olive oil, but only lightly, so that they're still crisp and brightly coloured. Stir in some olive oil or even some butter. Finally, toss in the cooked gnocchi, garnish with grated Parmesan and serve.

Baked Gnocchi with tomatoes and fresh mozzarellaBoil the gnocchi, then drain and toss them with tomato sauce then transfer to a baking dish. Top with chunks of fresh mozzarella, some grated Parmesan and some fresh basil, then bake until the cheese is melted and slightly bubbly

We are the sole importers of Caputo flour into NZ. Caputo flour is widely recognised around the world! They are the flour mill of Naples since 1924. They have a wide range of flours that can be used for pizza, pasta and baking: with each kind of flour specifically crafted for different needs.

What do the numbers mean?A wheat flour typically milled in Italy, where millers grade their flour by using a ‘zero’ rating. A single zero flour is quite coarse in texture, like very powdery semolina, whereas triple zero is much finer like cornstarch. But everyday flour is usually classed as double zero, or ‘00’.

Caputo Tipo 1

A traditional soft light brown wheat flour for making bread, pizza and cakes. It has a distinctive fragrance, taste and colour.

Caputo “00” Classica

Flour for soft dough that retains its lightness and flavour after cooking.

Caputo “00” Pasta Fresca & Gnocchi

An all purpose flour, ideal for making pasta and gnocchi. It is light and fluffy for making pastry too!

Caputo "0" Manitoba Oro

This flour is known for its strength. The quality of the gluten and the dough elasticity makes for excellent results in pastry and yeast products.

Found in central Italy, this mighty white truffle weighted in at 1.890kgs! The company turned down 1 million dollar offers from buyers in China. Instead, they chose to auction the truffle in New York to benefit Citymeals-on-Wheels and The Children's Glaucoma Foundation. The white truffle sold for an impressive $61,250 at the New York City auction.

Truffles are rare and extremely sought after, making them one of the most expensive foods in the world. The truffle is a wild, natural product grown underground, attached to the roots of trees — It is not something you can cultivate or control. This unpredictability contributes to the extreme prices truffles can bring.

To find them, truffle hunters traditionally used pigs to help hunters locate the fungi. Unfortunately, pigs have long been out of favour for hunting truffles because instead of retrieving them, they would eat them! Although they can be convinced to give the truffle up pigs can also cause a lot of damage to the terrain, so they have been outlawed in Italy for hunting truffles.

Truffle hunting has gone to the dogs! They are more of a popular choice for truffle hunting. They have more stamina than your average pig, they are easier to train and dogs are much less likely to try to eat the truffle once they find it! Some say that truffle hunters that use pigs don't tend to have all their fingers!

The main types of edible and sought-after truffles are the white truffle, black winter truffle and black summer truffle. Both truffles and mushrooms belong to the Fungi kingdom in scientific classification. However, mushrooms grow above ground and truffles grow underground on the roots of suitable host trees, like oak or hazelnut.

White Truffle

Black Summer truffle

Black Winter truffle

Why are they so expensive? Truffles are so expensive because they are very difficult to farm. They only grow in specific conditions — scientists still don't know all the conditions that tell fungus to make a truffle structure, so it is impossible to force truffles to grow. Growing the appropriate trees in the correct type of soil and climate is the best you can do — the rest is largely up to nature!

So, what do they taste like? Even the experts cannot describe the flavour of a truffle. Its completely unique and most people either love it or hate it! You will only know by trying it yourself, and the best way to try it is fresh, wild and in France or Italy!

How long do they keep?They have a half-life of about four to five days. As soon as they come out of the ground, the aromas start dissipating. After four to five days, only half of the aromas remain. After eight to ten days, only a quarter of the aroma is there. After that, they are no better than the mushrooms you buy from the supermarket.

Whats the difference between Prosecco and Champagne?

They’re from different places, they are made from different grapes, they’re made in different ways, they have different flavour profiles and they represent different price points!

Grapes used in the production of both Champagne and Prosecco are set by their region's respective governing bodies to ensure the quality and authenticity of the region's wines.

Champagne

Prosecco

Prosecco is a sparkling wine made in the Veneto region of Italy around the city of Treviso about 24km North of Venice.

1868 Carpene Malvolti produces the 1st sparking version of Prosecco

Prosecco is produced primarily from the prosecco or glera grape, which is native to the Veneto region of Italy.

Produced using an affordable method called the "Tank Method". Because this method is so efficient, it means the product — Prosecco — is less expensive to make, and less expensive to purchase.

Champagne is a sparking wine made in the Champagne region of France around the city of Reims about 130km Northeast of Paris.

1693 Dom Perignon produces the 1st sparking version of Champagne

There are three main grapes allowed in the production of Champagne: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes

Produced using a costly method called the "Traditional Method" This method is made using a time and labor intensive process. This requires that the wine's secondary fermentation (how it gets bubbles) take place in the same bottle it will be served from.

In Italy, Prosecco is enjoyed as a wine for every occasion. Outside Italy, it is most often drunk as an aperitif, much like Champagne. Like other sparkling wines, Prosecco is served chilled. Unlike champagne, Prosecco does not ferment in the bottle and grows stale with time; it should be drunk as young as possible and preferably before it is two years old!

Bertagni - pronounced Burr-TOHN-yee is the oldest filled pasta producer in Italy. Bertagni produces a range of tortelloni and ravioli with exceptionally good flavour. With fillings like porcini mushroom, fire roasted heirloom tomato, basil and mozzarella, or four cheese! There is a delicious flavour the whole family will love! Today pasta bertagni is present in over 40 countries in 5 continents. The story of Bertagni started more than 130 years ago, in 1882, in the workshop of Luigi Bertagni in Bologna, the home of Tortellini.

Bologna, Italy

TRY THESE BERTAGNI RECIPES AT HOME:

PROSCIUTTO COTTO

Prosciutto is sweet, delicate ham intended to be eaten raw. The word 'prosciutto' is the Italian for ham, but is widely used to describe seasoned, cured, air-dried ham. True prosciutto comes from Italy, but versions are now produced elsewhere.

'Prosciutto cotto' is cooked and 'prosciutto crudo' is raw (although safe and ready to eat thanks to the curing process). Prosciutto cotto literally means cooked ham in Italian. A delicately flavoured dry cured ham, originating in Italy and made from the meat of the hindquarters of the hog. Brine cured and then pressed into a hard and dense meat, Prosciutto cotto is a cooked form of Prosciutto as it is boiled prior to use. It is the most commonly used deli product in Italy. It is also very low in sodium but high in flavour!

HOW TO USE IT?

The uses of the Prosciutto cotto are as many as the uses of ham with sandwiches and pizzas being most common. It is an excellent meat, thinly sliced to use as a deli sandwich meat or to compliment a main dish. The beauty of Prosciutto cotto is that you can eat it raw or add it to your favourite dish! But make sure you add it last minute as lengthy cooking will toughen it and destroy its delicate flavour.

TRY THESE PROSCIUTTO COTTO RECIPES AT HOME:

RICCIARELLI

The Ricciarelli is a traditional Tuscan cookie that is naturally gluten-free and combines orange with almond flavours. At Christmas time, you will find Ricciarelli in every bakery in Siena! But luckily this sweet treat is available all year round!

Like macarons, ricciarelli are made with ground almonds, whisked egg-whites and sugar, but lack the airy delicacy of the macron.

This cookie has an Arabic influence and dates back to the Crusades, when almonds were introduced to Italy by soldiers returning home. In the spirit of adjusting to local taste and flavours, there is a chocolate version of the Ricciarelli made with cocoa powder!

PANFORTE DI SIENA

Panforte is a traditional Italian dessert that resembles fruitcake that contains fruits and nuts. Panforte meaning "strong bread" refers to the spicy flavour — peppercorns, cinnamon, nutmeg etc. The original name of panforte was "Panpepato" (peppered bread) due to the strong pepper used in the cake.

Making panforte is fairly simple: Sugar is dissolved in honey and various nuts, fruits and spices are mixed together with flour. The entire mixture is baked in a shallow pan then the finished cake is dusted with icing sugar.

Panforte is usually a small wedge that is served with coffee or a dessert wine after a meal, though some enjoy it with their coffee at breakfast. Today in Siena you can find many panforte recipes, the sweet is sold within beautiful and coloured boxes. There are many different variants, from the traditional one to the chocolate panforte!

Gorgonzola Cheese

Gorgonzola is a high quality cheese with an unmistakeable aroma and taste — Its history supposedly dates back to the eighteen century! There are currently 40 dairies and over 3,000 farms making the milk involved in the production of Gorgonzola cheese. Unskimmed cow's milk is used while preparing the cheese and generally it takes three to four months to attain full ripeness.

By law and tradition, Gorgonzola cheese can only be produced in the following provinces: Novara, Vercelli, Cuneo, Biella, Verbano Cusio Ossoia, and the area of Casale Monferrato within the Piedmont region, and Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Cremona, Lecco, Lodi, Milano, Monza, Pavia, and Varese within the Lombardy region.

Only high quality cow's milk produced in these provinces may be used to make Gorgonzola in order to grant the cheese is PDO certification. PDOs (protected designation of origin) are defined and protected by European Union law in order to defend the reputation of national foods.

Bergamo, Italy

What can i use it for?

This cheese has crumbly and soft texture with nutty aroma. It can have a mild to sharp taste depending on its age. Gorgonzola Dolce (also called Sweet Gorgonzola) and Gorgonzola Piccante are its two varieties, which vary in their age.

Gorgonzola has excellent nutritional properties; it is extremely rich in vitamins and minerals such as calcium, iron and phosphorus. It is also a highly versatile produce which can be used for many occasions. Gorgonzola makes an excellent table cheese, and may be enjoyed in soups, salads, main dishes, sauces and salad dressings! It can also be enjoyed for dessert and is delicious with drizzled honey and paired with fruits such as apples, grapes or pears.

TRY THESE GORGONZOLA RECIPES AT HOME:

fontina cheese

Fontina originated in Italy in 1477 in Valle d’Aosta — a region of northwest Italy bordered by France and Switzerland. Lying in the Western Alps, it's known for the iconic, snow-capped peaks the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc, Monte Rosa and Gran Paradiso. Fontina is considered a very versatile cheese because it can be used as both a table cheese and a cooking cheese.

Although made throughout the year, the best cheese is obtained during the summer when the cows are moved to an altitude of 550 to 700 metres and fed only with rich grass to give it a distinctive aroma. Fontina Cheese was one of the first cheese to be given DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) status by the European Union, which requires that Fontina Val d'Aosta be produced with the milk of the cows from the Valle d' Aosta

Fontina has been copied often, with the most notable styles being Italian, Swedish and Danish. The Italian style: has a smooth, supple texture with tiny holes, a brown coating and a flavour that is mild, earthy and buttery. The Swedish variety: is slightly tart and nutty yet has a mild earth flavour that runs mellow to sharp depending on age. The Danish Fontina: is also slightly tart and nutty with a mild earthy flavour that ranges from mellow to sharp depending on age.

WHAT CAN I USE IT FOR?

Among its many uses, Fontina is a traditional table cheese in Italy. It is served alongside other table cheeses, such as Gorgonzola, along with Italian bread, fresh fruit & black olives. Fontina is also a wonderful cheese to use in addition to mozzarella on a pizza. It’s smooth texture and tangy flavour make a delicious topping for any gratin, and this creamy cheese also melts nicely into soups, chowders, pasta or sauces.

TRY THESE FONTINA RECIPES AT HOME:

Buy 2 x dozen boxes of Peroni and you will get a FREE twin pack of glassware!

Emporio Peroni, London

In 1846 founding father Francesco Peroni established the first brewery in Vigevano, Italy. Due to extremely high demand, a second brewery was built in Rome in 1864 and Francesco’s son, Giovanni, took over the running of the new branch.

In 2005 the brand was re-launched internationally. Peroni Nastro Azzurro made shopping history when it opened 'Emporio Peroni', a minimalist boutique. Situated on one of the world's most stylish thoroughfares, Sloane Street in London, it sat comfortably alongside other leading Italian fashion brands. Emporio was so exclusive that only window shopping was permitted

What does 'Nastro Azzuro' mean?

Nastro Azzurro means blue ribbon in Italian and gets its name from a prize awarded to the ship that could cross the Atlantic Ocean in the shortest time. In 1933, an Italian ocean liner, the SS Rex won the prize and was allowed to fly a blue ribbon from the mast of the ship.

Our first shipment of Classic Panettone from Italy has arrived!

Panettone with raisins end candied fruits! The Panettone Chiostro di Saronno is produced according to the traditional recipe and criteria, through a slow and natural leavening and all ingredients, from flour to milk, eggs to butter, candied fruit to yeast, are of natural origin strictly fresh and genuine, free of preservatives and colorant!

History and tradition

With its characteristic shape, Panettone is the specialty Christmas cake of Milan with an ancient and noble tradition. Technically is is a type of sweet bread loaf ; It is made during a long process that involves the curing of the dough, which is acidic, similar to sourdough. The proofing process alone takes several days, giving the cake its distinctive fluffy characteristics. It contains candied orange, citron, and lemon zest, as well as raisins, which are added dry and not soaked. It is served in slices, vertically cut, accompanied with sweet hot beverages or a sweet wine. Legend would have in that at the end of the fourteenth century a pastry maker from the court of visconti wanted to bake a cake for his sweetheart, but during the preparation something went wrong and the dough rose out of all proportion. In this manner the panettone was born, a delicious recipe reproduced by Our Company, a fluffy delicacy for kindling the magical atmosphere of Christmas.